A major theme of Rosaria Butterfield’s The
Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert, is her promotion of the Reformed
Presbyterian Church of North America. The RPCNA’s Covenant of Church
Membership required her to take seven vows—a tradition that Jesus warned
“cometh of evil” (Mt. 5:37), that is, proceeds
from an evil purpose. One of the vows is to submit to the teaching and
government of the church and the constitution of the Reformed Presbyterian
Church of North America:

“Do you promise to submit in the Lord to the teaching and government of this
church as being based upon the scriptures and described in substance in the
Constitution of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America?” (Secret
Thoughts, Kindle 782)

Rosaria also believes the only Biblical form of
worship is the Reformed Presbyterian tradition of singing only the
Psalms without instrumental accompaniment.

“Finally, I turned to the literary device of genre to better understand the
‘distinctive’ of the RP Church that is often most critiqued: our adherence
to a capella psalm singing to the exclusion of all other music of praise.
The book that helped me to understand our position on psalm singing is
Michael Bushell’s Songs of Zion. The literary
principle that undergirds an understanding of the Regulative Principle of
Worship is canon: the Bible is canonized. The literary principle that
undergirds an understanding of exclusive Psalmody is genre: the books of the
Bible are organized as all books are under genre. A genre is a ‘style or
category (of text) characterized by a particular form and purpose’ (OED).
The word genre and the word gender share an etymological history. Just as
genre has a specific purpose so too does gender. If we care about genre—and
we should—then we have to grapple with the question: if God gave us a book
of praise songs, who are we to add to them? Bushell points to exclusive
Psalmody as the logical consequence of sola scriptura. Why? First because of
the importance of the genre of the Book of Psalms within the scope of the
canonized Bible.” (Secret Thoughts, Kindle 1697)

God’s Word calls us to worship Him
with hymns and other spiritual songs, as well as psalms:

“Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.”
Eph. 5:19

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all
wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” (Col.
3:16)

Rosaria does not explain that the Reformed
“Regulative Principle of Worship” and all of Reformed theology originated
with John Calvin. In fact, only once is Calvin mentioned in her book,
Secret Thoughts, stating that she read Calvin’s Institutes. The reason
for this omission may be that the violence of
John Calvin’s dictatorship in Geneva would repel many of her readers.
Rosaria and her loving lesbian community would have been burned at the stake
in Calvin’s Geneva. Nor would they have fared better in John Knox’s
Presbyterian Scotland. In 1558, Knox wrote a polemic against the female
monarchs of his day which was titled, “The
First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstruous Regiment of Women.” Knox
chauvinistically
argued that government by females is contrary to the Bible.

John Knox, who was the founder of Presbyterianism,
spent several years of exile in Geneva, Switzerland, where he learned from
John Calvin. Knox wrote that Geneva was “the
most perfect school of Christ that was ever on earth since the days of the
apostles.” Calvin and John Knox believed that “For matters of
politics, history, culture, and so forth, the Old Testament remains
relevant; the people of God today are one with the people of Israel.” The
failure of Calvin and Knox to
distinguish between Israel and the Church led to their extreme legalism
in Geneva and Scotland which went far afield of the Mosaic Law in severity
and cruelty.

An eye-opening resource
on the Jewish origins of Scotland is the book, When Scotland Was Jewish:
DNA Evidence, Archeology, Analysis of Migrations, and Public and Family
Records Show Twelfth Century Semitic Roots, by Elizabeth Caldwell
Hirschman and Donald N. Yates. Based on their extensive research, these
Jewish authors concluded that Presbyterianism is Reformed Judaism:

“We also provide
documentation suggesting that perhaps the majority of Scots people,
especially those in the southwest and northeast of Scotland, are of
Sephardic Jewish descent. And we argue that many of these same Scots today
continue to practice a ‘Reform’type
of Judaism. It is called Presbyterianism.’” (p. 7)

John Calvin appointed a French poet and
sodomite, Clement Marot, and Theodore Beza, also a sodomite, to translate a Psalter which
became the only book of worship permitted in Geneva. The Genevan Psalter was
published in definitive form in 1561 and was the basis of the Scottish
Psalter used by John Knox in the Presbyterian Church of Scotland.

“Knox, like Calvin, held the view that nothing but
what was Biblical could be used in public worship. Singing was primarily
from the Psalter since Calvin believed that ‘we shall not find better or
more appropriate songs to this end than the Psalms of David, inspired by the
Holy Spirit (Ward, p29). Calvin did not permit instrumental music in public
worship.

The first Scottish Psalter (1564)

“When Knox returned to Scotland in 1560 he took
with him the prayer book called the Order of Geneva. This included a section
of ‘one and fiftie Psalms of David, in English metre, whereof 37 were made
by Thomas Sternhold, and the rest by others, conferred with the Hebrew, and
in certain places corrected as the text and sense of the prophets required’
(Millar p27). The first General Assembly (GA) in Scotland arranged for the
last revision and completion of the Psalter. The Psalms in this Book of
Common Order included 87 from the last revision of the Anglo-Genevan Psalter
of 1560 and the remainder from the English Psalter of 1562 (Leaver, p331).
The completed Psalter was to maintain a correct translation of the Hebrew
text.”

CALVIN THE JUDIAZER

The problem with “exclusive psalmody” – that the
church must limit its worship to the 150 psalms in Scripture – was that
Calvin’s commentaries on the Psalms did not interpret the Messianic
prophecies contained therein Christologically, that is, as prophesies of
Jesus Christ; instead Calvin applied these prophesies to David, and at times
to Solomon. The citizens of Geneva objected to Calvin’s Jewish
interpretations of the psalms, but to no avail. Calvin was a Judaizer and
his theocracy in Geneva was supposed to be modeled after the Old Testament
Law, although it was more like the Talmudic law. Calvin also Judaized the
Psalms, relying on the interpretations of Jewish rabbis instead of the
interpretations of the apostles and Jesus himself found in the New
Testament. The following books by 17th century Lutheran
theologian, Aegidius Hunnius, and modern scholar, Prof. G. Sujin Pak, expose
Calvin’s Jewish interpretations of the Messianic prophecies:

“Jewish
interpretations and corruptions by which John Calvin has, in detestable
fashion, shamelessly corrupted the clearest passages and testimonies of the
Holy Spirit regarding the glorious Trinity, the deity of Christ and of the
Holy Spirit, and especially the prophecies of the Prophets regarding the
coming Messiah – His birth, suffering, resurrection, ascension into heaven
and session at the right hand of God.”

“Calvin’s emphasis on a Psalm’s primary meaning
concerning David (and only secondarily concerning Christ) and his assertion
of his own interpretation of a Psalm as more in keeping with its plain sense
than that of the apostles themselves are two of the key issues that are at
the heart of the Lutheran Aegidius Hunnius’s charges of judaizing against
him. Hunnius time and again accuses Calvin of tearing the meaning of a Psalm
away from the apostolic exegesis of it and arrogantly asserting his own
personal authority, not only over the patristic biblical interpretive
tradition, but also above and beyond the authority of the apostles
themselves. 1.

“Likewise, Hunnius also disparages Calvin’s
absence of employing these eight Psalms to teach the doctrines of the
Trinity and the two natures of Christ. He writes that Calvin’s exegesis of
these Psalms entangles the doctrines of the Trinity and the two natures of
Christ in ‘his thorn bush of tricks.’ 2. Thus, by not rendering the
Christological reading as the primary sense and by denying the teachings of
the Trinity and the two natures of Christ found in these Psalms, Hunnius
believes Calvin covers these most clear prophecies with ‘Jewish
perversions.’ He contends that the end result of Calvin’s exegesis is to
shatter and undermine the exegetical foundations of Christian teachings of
the Trinity and the two natures of Christ and, more generally, the church’s
Christological readings of the Old Testament. In these ways, says Hunnius,
Calvin opens up Scripture to Jewish and Arian heresies. 3….

“Hunnius begins his treatise on the judaizing
Calvin by clarifying to Pareus that he has not accused and does not accuse
Calvin of Arianism per se but, rather, of ‘offering an opportunity’ and
‘opening a window’ to lay a foundation for Arian impiety. Thus, he contends
that Calvin distorts Scripture and drags it away from its genuine sense.
Furthermore, decries Hunnius, Calvin not only ‘arrogantly looks down upon
and mocks’ the interpretations of the ancient and recent church fathers but
also ‘in nothing does he inform himself of the sacred interpretations of the
evangelists and apostles, badly mocking these and having no respect [for
them].’ 11. Hunnius proceeds first by pointing to biblical passages that the
church fathers and the apostles’ interpretation concerning the Trinity and
that Calvin does not. Then he turns to biblical passages traditionally read
concerning Christ’s deity that Calvin does not apply in this way. Finally,
he turns to biblical texts traditionally read as prophecies of Christ’s
passion, resurrection, and ascension that Calvin does not employ in these
ways.

“Hunnius gives a lengthy exposition on Ps 2:7, ‘He
said to me, ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you,’ to demonstrate that
this verse must be read for the Trinitarian teachings it contains. His
initial problem with Calvin’s treatment of this verse is that Calvin first
applies it literally to David and only secondarily to Christ—and this only
via the type, by way of analogy and not by way of the literal sense. By
applying this passage literally to David, argues Hunnius, Calvin renders
unintelligible the apostles interpretation in Acts 13:33 and Heb 1:5 of its
plain sense as a literal prophecy of Christ. Hunnius points out that these
New Testament passages reveal that the apostles understand the whole of
Psalm 2 as David’s prophecy of Christ’s passion. Thus, he declares that
Calvin departs from not only the authoritative and authentic apostolic
exegesis of Ps 2:7 but also the mind of David himself and the whole
apostolic church in general. Yet, even more deplorable in Hunnius’s eyes is
the fact that Calvin rejects the application of Ps 2:7 to the Trinitarian
reading of Christ’s eternal generation by the Father. He berates Calvin for
his ‘singular audacity in applying this passage to David as a son of God,
rather than to Christ as the only begotten Son of God. ‘Therefore, asserts
Hunnius, Calvin ‘is truly a Jew, for he ‘plucks’ and ‘tears this Scripture
from the apostles.’ 12.

“Next, Hunnius turns to examine a set of biblical
passages that the church fathers and apostles have traditionally interpreted
concerning the deity of Christ, which include the interpretations of Ps 2:7,
Ps 45:6-7, and Ps 68:18. The author of Hebrews uses both Ps 2:7 and Ps
45:6-7 to demonstrate the divinity of Christ. Thus, Heb 1:5, 6-9 reads (NRSV):

“For to which of the angels did God ever say, ‘You
are my Son; today I have begotten you? [Ps 2:7]… Of the angels he says, ‘He
makes his angels winds, and his servants flames of fire [Ps 104:4]. But of
the Son he says, ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous
scepter is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and
hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of
gladness beyond your companions [Ps 45:6-7].

“The apostle states that in these passages the
Spirit undoubtedly speaks concerning the Son, but Calvin writes that the
simple and natural sense of Ps 45:6-7 concerns Solomon and that it concerns
Christ only via the type and not under the literal sense. Consequently,
Hunnius accuses Calvin of judaizing: ‘For the Jews clamor in this same sense
as Calvin when he says this to be the simple and natural sense! 13

“Likewise, according to Hunnius, Calvin undermines
the teachings of Christ’s deity present in Ps 68:18. The Apostle Paul
relates this verse to Christ in Eph 4, by which he declares Christ to be the
same as the Lord in this Psalm, demonstrating the deity of Christ. Hunnius
bemoans that Calvin ‘crucifies the brilliant predictions of the Prophets.
Moreover, he accuses Calvin of arrogantly being his own teacher of Scripture
by removing himself from the authority of apostolic exegesis. Even more to
the point, Calvin has the audacity, says Hunnius, to criticize and correct
the interpretation of the Apostle Paul when Calvin writes that ‘Paul subtly
bends [deflectit] Ps 68:18 toward Christ in Eph 4:8, implying that such a
reading requires a ‘bending of the passage away from its more natural sense.
Again, he sees Calvin acquiescing to Jewish exegesis of this verse and
undermining the scriptural foundations for Christ’s deity. 14. Hunnius next
turns to Ps 8:4-6, which he sees as a literal prophecy of Christ’s passion
in accordance with the apostolic readings given of this text in Heb 2:6-8, I
Cor 15:27, and Eph 1:22. Yet, instead of applying Ps 8:4-6 to Christ, Calvin
‘dares to twist this passage and apply it to the excellence of humanity and
to the dominion given to humanity over creation. Indeed, Calvin goes so far
as to say that the excellence of humanity is such that it is ‘not far
inferior to divine and heavenly glory. This, says Hunnius, is not only
contrary to the apostles reading concerning Christ’s humiliation but also
contrary to the message of the Old Testament prophets themselves, who point
not to the proximity of humanity’s condition to the Divine, but to their
distance from it. 15. In so doing, Calvin ‘gnaws away as with a dog’s teeth
the teaching of the Apostle Paul. And yet again Calvin asserts himself as a
teacher of Scripture above the authority of Paul when he accuses the apostle
of ‘dragging [trahit] the meaning of Ps 8;4 to apply it to Christ’s passion.
16. Thus, contends Hunnius, Calvin ‘plunders the plain sense of these verses
in the Psalms when he insists that the literal sense applies to the
excellence of humanity and not to Christ:

“Will the judgment of Calvin stand better than
that of the apostles? If so, then when other articles of the Christian faith
wish to be founded upon the Prophets, will the Prophets be seen not to
explain them…but rather to bend [deflectit] them toward the sense, of which
others in the Prophets have said is the true sense? If concerning the
Prophets and their [the apostles’] words are considered to be embellished
through amplification…if, furthermore, they [the apostles] are seen not so
much as interpreting the Prophets’ words but as accommodating them to some
other thing through pious deflection [deflexion]…Well, even the Jews would
not suffer the opening of so many thousands of cracks! 17.

“In this way, Hunnius charges Calvin with
separating the apostles’ meaning from that of the prophets’ meaning and,
thus, threatening the very unity of the Testaments that Calvin claims to
uphold.” More…

An English translation of Hunnius’ original work is
available for $9.99 on
Amazon.com. This book is highly
recommended reading, especially for Calvinists.

The Psalms belong to the Old Testament which is the dispensation of the
Mosaic Law. By restricting the Church to singing the Psalms, from the book
“Songs of Zion,” listening to John Calvin’s Jewish interpretations of the
Psalms, and living under the Old Testament theocratic government of Calvin,
the citizens of Geneva were indoctrinated in the Mosaic Law rather than the
New Testament Gospel of Grace.

Which brings to mind the research of Hirschman and
Yates, cited above, that many Scots of Sephardic
Jewish descent “continue to practice a ‘Reform’type
of Judaism. It is called Presbyterianism.’”

This may partly explain Rosaria Butterfield’s law
bound view of sanctification, why she does not believe that Christians are
dead to the law, and why she sees so many converts who are “stuck” in Romans
7. (See: “Born
This Way: Slaves of Sin”)

“Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become
dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to
another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth
fruit unto God. For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which
were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we
were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness
of the letter.” Rom. 7:4-6

“For I through the law am dead to the law,
that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live;
yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the
flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself
for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by
the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” Gal. 2:19-21

CALVIN’S TALMUDIC LAW

John Calvin aspired to create a spiritually pure
“Kingdom of God” in Geneva, Switzerland. Today Calvinists teach that God has commanded the Church to establish
His Kingdom on earth.
The fruit of Calvin’s law bound theology was a theocratic dictatorship based
on his false teaching that the Church is an extension of Israel.

Bernard Cottret, author of
Calvin: A Biography, a favorable treatment of Calvin’s life and
work, has provided accounts of the torture and execution of heretics and
those who were merely suspected of committing crimes in Geneva:

“The horrors increased. The plague was followed by famine in 1544. The
respite during the winter of 1544-45 was followed by an irrational
determination to punish the fomenters of the evil. It was discovered that a
certain Bernard Dallings and his confederate Dunant, nicknamed Freckles…,
had applied ‘plague venom’ to a foot removed from the body of a hanged man.
This was then smeared on the locks of several houses. Unfortunately Freckles
died under torture in February 1545 without admitting his crimes. His
torturers were terribly clumsy, and they provoked a fatal hemorrhage in
their zeal for well-doing. Despite everything, the body was dragged to the
middle of the town, in order not to deprive the inhabitants of the fine
burning they had a right to. Sorcerers, like heretics, as was well known,
were characterized by their combustible qualities. Far from settling men’s
minds, this salutary diversion provoked a panic. The poisoners, greasers of
locks, were watched for with anxiety. Several were apprehended, men and
women, not to mention a barber and a hospital supervisory who had made a
pact with the devil.

“Two women were executed on March 7, 1545. Calvin humanely interceded the
same day to keep the poisoners from being forced to languish in prison. The
Council followed this happy directive and urged the executioner henceforth
to ‘be more diligent in cutting off the hands of the malefactors.’ Moreover,
the quality of the spectacle – there’s nothing like a good fire – did not
necessarily require that the sorcerer still be alive. It was just as easy to
strangle the condemned person beforehand, if only the means could be found.
A simple garrote, of the sort used for cats, did the trick.

“The executions continued. Yet those detained refused to confess; the
tortures were combined skillfully to avoid killing the guilty foolishly:
torture of the strappado, with pincers. Most of those tortured, no doubt
aided by Satan, overcame these tests without admitting the obvious. Must
they be immured alive so they would finally talk? By varying the means of
death a little, one or two sorcerers were decapitated ‘for having composed a
plaster which included plague grease and other villainous things and having
thus caused several people to die.’

“Some committed suicide in their cells to avoid torture, so they were put in
handcuffs. One of the arrested women threw herself from a window. The last
execution took place on May 16. Seven men and twenty-four women died in the
affair; others fled. The phenomenon was not new – Geneva had previously been
spreaders of the plague in 1530 – but in 1545 the scale was unprecedented.
The fear revived in 1568, and even later. Calvin, for his part, was grieved,
provided no one poisoned his door also…” (pp. 179-180)

John Calvin’s reign of terror in Geneva is certainly not derived from the
Old Testament Mosaic Law which shows forth the justice and impartiality of
God, but it does resemble the cruel and unusual punishment of the Goyim
(Gentiles) commended in the Jewish Talmud. The Talmud
commands Jews to torture and kill Gentiles without cause, because they are
like animals, whereas the Mosaic law requires fair and humane treatment of
Gentiles. Calvin’s commentaries frequently and favorably cite rabbinic
sources, although on occasion he was critical of them. Calvin’s Geneva had a
Gentile population, which may explain his cruelty and vindictiveness.

“…there were no Jewish populations in Calvin’s homeland of France or in
Geneva. France expelled its Jews in 1394. When Calvin converted to
Protestantism and traveled to Basel, he entered a town that had expelled its
Jews in 1397. According to Detmers, the ﬁrst place Calvin might have had
direct contact with Jews and Judaism was during his brief 1536 stay in the
northern Italian city of Ferrara, where about 3000 Jews lived. Yet, Calvin
never mentioned any contact with Jews at this time. Likewise, contact in
Geneva was unlikely, as Geneva and its surrounding territories expelled the
Jews in 1491. Yet, Detmers argues that Calvin must have been aware of the
small Jewish population in Frankfurt am Main during his visit in 1539.” (“The
Protestant Reformers and the Jews”)

John Calvin was 27 years old when he published his Institutes of the
Christian Religion in 1536, although
he had converted from Roman Catholicism to the Protestant Reformation only
a few years prior. In 1536 he also attempted to take over the
city of Geneva but was banished by the citizens of that city in 1538.
Between
1541-44, however, Geneva was
established as a theocracy under Calvin. In 1554, John Knox fled from
England, disembarked in France, and continued to Geneva, where Calvin’s
totalitarian state was well established. Calvin died in 1564,
apparently despised by the citizens of Geneva.

“The
citizens of Geneva hated John Calvin as he clearly stated. In 1554 Calvin
wrote ‘Dogs
bark at me on all sides. Everywhere I am saluted with the name of ‘heretic,’
and all the calumnies that can possibly be invented are heaped upon me; in a
word, the enemies among my own flock attack me with greater bitterness than
my declared enemies among the papists.’ Calvin, quoted in Schaff, History, volume 8, page 496. The history of John Calvin’s reign of
terror in Geneva is undisputed. Calvin himself kept historical records that
have survived to this day...

“John Calvin had no love, compassion, patience or tolerance for those who did
not believe his Institutes. Criticism
of Calvin's Institutes was
considered heresy for which the sentence was death by burning at the stake.
To his dying day Calvin preached and taught from his works...

“John Calvin’s murder of people who held different doctrinal views,
his failure to acknowledge or repent from his sins, his incomplete gospel,
his placing of his own writings above the Bible, his distortion of God and
the Scriptures, and his dependence upon infant baptism places into question
his salvation. In all of his writings is not found a clear declaration of
his salvation by faith in the birth, life, crucifixion and resurrection of
Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Calvin was a cruel, murderous tyrant who
considered himself to be the pope of Geneva. The Bible never advocates
harming an individual due to his unbelief or lack of understanding. Jesus
taught to ‘turn the other cheek’ instead. None of the Apostles taught action
against unbelievers but instead taught the believer to seek them out and
present the gospel in love.

‘Mark 16:15 And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach
the gospel to every creature.’

“John Calvin showed no signs of being a regenerate man. He became
more murderous and cruel during his rule in Geneva. He showed no inclination
to be conformed to the image of Christ as described in Scripture for those
who have been saved. Notice that Romans 8:29 below says we are ‘predestined
to be conformed to His Son’ and does not say we are predestined to be saved
as taught by Calvin.”

The following
paragraph fairly sums up the legacy of John Calvin.

“Just as John Calvin ‘stole’ Geneva to set up his personal kingdom with
himself as ‘Pope,’ modern Calvinists are stealing churches. Old Baptist
churches in the United States are a prime target. A Calvinist will apply for
an empty pastorship while keeping his belief in Calvinistic doctrine a
secret. Upon being offered the position by unsuspecting church members he
begins to bring in other undercover Calvinists who are promoted to ruling
positions as deacons and elders. The undercover Calvinists quickly reach a
majority in the ruling body of the church. The church appears to be
prosperous and growing, because the undercover Calvinists recruit only other
Calvinists as new members. The new members are all a part of the scheme.
These wolves in sheep’s clothing make a power play after gaining a majority
control. They force out the older non-Calvinist church members one at a time
with rudeness, intimidation and insults. Slick scheme! The Calvinists have
just stolen church property that could be worth $5 to $10 million or more.
Calvinists rarely build a new church on their own.”

Resistance to Calvin’s tyranny intensified which Bernard Cottrett blames on
opposition to the Reformer’s compulsory belief in the doctrine of
predestination. 1. However, Cottrett also mentions this curious item:

“The city of Bern banished Calvin’s opponents, in particular Sebastien
Foncellet, the author of an epigram describing Geneva as Sodom and
abusing the Reformer.” (p. 211)

There
is, in fact, compelling historical evidence that Calvin served a prison
sentence for the crime of Sodomy.

“Calvin’s conversion likely took place by May 1534 when he gave up his
church benefices, as Calvin scholars concur. An imprisonment of Calvin,
however, also took place in May 1534. It may very well explain Calvin’s new
direction in life away from Noyon and in the Protestant camp. It also may
well explain why in 1534 he wrote the Institutes with its bizarre notion
that God directs all evil thoughts and actions, and neither man nor Satan
has a moment of free-will where they can choose good or evil without God
directing them. This is the kind of idea that would be invented by someone
whose acts were felt internally to be deeply shameful.

“Schaff, a Calvin admirer, admits Calvin was ‘imprisoned’ at Noyon in 1534
for ‘some reason.’1. McGrath says the records of Noyon reveal
Calvin’s name is listed as imprisoned on May 26, 1534. The same record notes
a disturbance on Trinity Sunday in church. No other details are
noted. 2. McGrath mentions the inconsistency between these records and
Calvin’s claim in a letter of 1545 to a colleague where Calvin is ‘praising
God that he had never been imprisoned.’ 3.

“Why would Calvin speak contra-factually? Probably because he meant to deny
ever being imprisoned for his beliefs. Which raises the inference that
Calvin was not arrested in May 1534 and imprisoned due to causing a
doctrinal disturbance on Trinity Sunday. This explains why Calvin later
denied ever being imprisoned. Then what was the nature of the public crime
involved in 1534?

“Bolsec, a French physician from Paris residing in Geneva, made the claim
that Calvin was convicted of sodomy at Noyon, France. Bolsec says he
confirmed that a notary sent certification of this fact to Berthelier of the
court’s decree at Noyon. 4. Bolsec specifically said he saw a document by a
public sworn notary of Noyon who had certified the criminal conviction to
Berthelier as ‘Secretary to the Council of Geneva.’ In this, Bolsec affirmed
he was not lying, and that ‘neither anger, nor envy, nor evil will that has
made me speak or write any one thing against Truth, and my Conscience.’ 5.

“Berthelier, a lawyer in Geneva and initial prosecutor of Servetus in 1553,
asserted in 1557 he had obtained in 1554 at Noyon ‘an act, signed by a
notary, which certified the truth’ that Calvin was convicted for
sodomy. 6. As the Calvin-admirer, Francis Sibson, recounts in his
introduction to Beza's Life of Calvin, Berthelier said:

‘the republic of Geneva had sent him to Noyon, with orders to make an exact
inquiry into Calvin’s life and character; and that he found Calvin had
been convicted of sodomy; but that at the bishop’s request, the
punishment by fire was commuted into that of being branded with the
Flower-de-luce [i.e., Fleurs-de-Lis, or a Lily.] He boasted to have an act,
signed by a notary, which certified the truth of the process and the
condemnation. 7.’”
Read more…

2. Alister E. McGrath, A Life of John Calvin (Blackwell Publishing,
1990) at 73.

3. Id., at 74.

4. Introduction to Théodore de Bèze [Calvin's successor], The Life of
John Calvin (J. Whetham, 1836) at 153. Sibson explains on page 154 that
Berthelier said he obtained this in 1554, and disclosed this fact in 1557.
Bethelier had to flee for his life from Geneva in 1555, and Sibson says it
is impossible to believe that Berthelier did not take this certification
with him if it truly existed. However, this means of casting doubt is
unfounded. For it would be more unlikely that pressed with survival that
Berthelier would take the time to go home for this paper.

6. Théodore de Bèze [Calvin's successor], The Life of John Calvin
(introduction and translated by Francis Sibson)(J. Whetham, 1836) at 153,
154.

7. Théodore de Bèze [Calvin's successor], The Life of John Calvin
(introduction and translated by Francis Sibson)(J. Whetham, 1836) at 153,
154.

In Alister McGrath’s biography of
Calvin, he states, “... Jerome Bolsec, with whom Calvin crossed swords in
1551... published his Vie de Calvin at Lyons in June 1577. Calvin,
according to Bolsec, was irredeemably tedious and malicious, bloodthirsty
and frustrated. He treated his own words as if they were the word of God,
and allowed himself to be worshipped as God. In addition to frequently
falling victim to his homosexual tendencies, he had a habit of indulging
himself sexually with any female within walking distance. According to
Bolsec, Calvin resigned his benefices at Noyon on account of the public
exposure of his homosexual activities.”

A 17th century account of Calvin’s criminal record and branding
for Sodomy, which confirms Bolsec’s 1577 biography of Calvin 1., wasA
Treatise of Religion and Government with reflexions vpon the cause and cure
of Englands late distempers and present dangersby
John Wilson (London, 1670). It appears from these historical
accounts that Theodore Beza, who succeeded Calvin in Geneva, was also a
homosexual, who kept both a boy and a prostitute (quaene). 2. Theodore Beza
compiled his own editions of the Greek New Testament which became the basis
for the Geneva Bible. In Wilson's Treatise quoted and photocopied on
the left below, published in 1670, the language is Early Modern English.
Jerome Bolsec's
Vie de Calvin (right below) in French.

“John Calvin (whom the Magistrate of
Noyon condemned for infamous Sodomy)
was by his friend Beza canonized for extraordinary Sanctity; but
Schusselberg a man of so great esteem among Protestants that he was made
Superintendent and general Inspector of many Churches in Germany, after
relating Calvin’sSodomy and vices, faith; … I know Beza writ otherwise
of Calvin’s life, manners, and death, but seeing himself noted with the
same Heresy, and almost with the same sin as the history of Candida etc. witnesseth, none can credit him. Therefore I am induced to believe
Bolseck
the Phisitian of Geneva, who begins his book of the life and death of
Calvin with this protestation. ‘I am heer, for the love of the truth to
refute Theodor Beza his fals, and shamles lyes, in the praise of Calvin,
protesting before God and all the holy Court of heaven, before all the
world, and the Holy Ghost itself, that neither anger nor envy, nor evill
will hath made me speake or write any one thing against the truth and my
conscience. Then he relates how Calvin was branded for Sodomy with a
burning iron on the shoulder, and therefore retired from his Country (Noyon
in Picardy) and how this punishment was testified by that Citty under the
hand of a publick and sworn Notary to Monsr Bertelier Secretary to the Councell of
Geneva, which testimony (sayth Bolseck) is yet extant.” (Treatise, p.
172)

“How great a Cheat
Calvin was, had bin partly sayd heretofore, but
whosoever desires to be fully informed of his particular villanies, and
hypocrisy, let him read his life written by Jerom Bolseck Anno 1577. There
he will find how Calvin continued to practise his execrable Sodomy,
adultery &c.” (Treatise.
p. 321)

“That
Hierom Bolstk Doctor of Physik many yeares in Geneva, and other
places round about, in Calvin's time, when himself was a Protestant, setteth down many wicked things both of
Calvin and Beza and with such
circumstances that it seemeth impossible they should be feigned in a time
his falsehoods might be so easily disproved (anno 1577.) As that John
Calvin was branded publickly on the shoulder with a burning iron for
Sodomy, by order of the Bishop of Ncyon in France, who preserved him
therby from publik death; and that this was testified by publick record of
the said Citty of Noyon; and that this was registred by Monsieur Bertilier
Secretary of the Councell of Geneva under a publick and sworn Notaries
hand; he relates many things of Calvin's evcessive ambition, intollerable
hypocrisy, delicat niceness, and lascivious carnality.

“As for
Beza who lived when Bolsek’s book was written, he reporteth many
enormous things, as that he kept both a boy and a Queane, Andebertus,
and Candida: that he ran away with a Taylor's wife that dwelt in
Calendarstreet in Paris, she robbing her husband to accompany him; and
that he continued the like life after, keeping an harlot called Claudia
, together with his own wife, and killing his own Child begotten upon her,
to cover the sin, by letting her blood above measure, and many other foul
things, which I avoyd to name for loathsomness.” (Treatise,
p. 401)

“From
Mr Luther we fell to talk of Mr Theodore Beza concerning whom I told
them that the book reporteth how he sold his benefice to one, and took
mony for it before hand from another, and ran away with another man's wife
to Geneva &c. wherunto my Lord sayd, Beza confesstth so much of himself
(concerning his benefice) or els they had never known it, but their
cosening and false dealings (meaning of the Papists) go far beyond this;
and for Mr Calvin (sayd I) whom I have always reverenced, and employed my
chiefest time of study in his book of Institutions, I find him accused
here, to have bin a fals and deceitfull wicked man, branded for Sodomy,
and would have raysed a dead man, whilst he was alive, but afterwards
found him dead indeed, by his prayers, and endeavors to raise him &c.” (Treatise,
p.
406)

The Reformed Reader
confirms that Clement Marot, who was commissioned by Calvin to translate the
Genevan Psalter, prior to Theodore Beza, was also a Sodomite.

“Clement Marot was the ‘Valet ofthe Bed-chamber to King Francis I.’
and was one of the greatest French poets of his time; in fact, he gave his
name to a new school of poetry,— ‘Marotique.’ He had tried his hand at an
immense variety of profane verse, he had written ballades, chansons,
pastourelles, vers équivoques, eclogues, laments, complaints, epitaphs,
chants-royals, blasons, contreblasons, dizains, huitains, envois; he had
been, Warton says, ‘the inventor of the rondeau and the restorer of the
madrigal;’ and yet, in spite of his well-known ingenuity and versatility, it
occasioned much surprise and even amusement when it was known that the
gay poet had written psalm-songs and proposed to substitute them for the
love-songs of the French court…

“Marot wrote in his preface to the psalms:—

‘Thrice happy they who shall behold
And listen in that age of gold…
Shepherd and shepherdess shall vie
In many a tender Psalmody,
And the Creator’s name prolong
As rock and stream return their song.’

“Though these words seem prophetic, the gay and volatile Marot could
never have foreseen what has proved one of the most curious facts in
religious history,—that from the airy and unsubstantial seed sown by the
French courtier in such a careless, thoughtless manner, would spring the
great-spreading and deep-rooted tree of sacred song.”

Consistent with John Calvin’s criminal conviction and practice of sodomy is his Commentary
on Genesis 13 and 19, in which he rejects the Biblical interpretation of the
sin of Sodom as homosexuality.

GENESIS 13:13
“But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD
exceedingly.”

CALVIN: “Therefore, Ezekiel, speaking of the men of Sodom, declares it to
have been the cause of their destruction, that, being saturated with bread
and wine, and filled with delicacies, they had exercised a proud cruelty
against the poor, (Ezek. 16:49)”

GENESIS 19:4-5 “But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men
of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from
every quarter: And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the
men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may
know them.”

CALVIN: “Some expound the word know in a
carnal sense; and thus the Greek interpreters have translated it. But I
think the word has here a different meaning; as if the men had said, We wish
to know whom thou bringest, as guests, into our city. The Scripture
truly is accustomed modestly to describe an act of shame by the word know;
and therefore we may infer that the men of Sodom would have spoken, in
coarser language, of such an act: but, for the sake of concealing their
wicked design, they here imperiously expostulate with the holy man, for
having dared to receive unknown persons into his house.”

John
Calvin, Rosaria Butterfield, and Gay activists reject the accurate Biblical
interpretation of Genesis 13 and 19 as the sin of Sodomy. It does seem that
the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Calvin’s legacy is the present day
alliance of Calvinists and the LGBTQ who are conspiring to establish a
sodomite “Kingdom of God” – a “Queer Utopia” – on earth.

One
important means the Reformed are using to transform the world is educating
their children in the Greco-Roman Classical Curriculum. Children
indoctrinated in the culture of ancient Greece will more readily accept the
institutionalized sodomy and pederasty that distinguished the Classical Age
of Greece and Rome.

These
vices will be elevated to virtues in the future Reformed “Kingdom of God,”—
also known as the Greco-Roman “Golden
Age,” Plato’s “Republic,” the New “Age
of Aquarius,” Francis Bacon’s “New
Atlantis,” Marx’s “World Communist Society,” the Zionist “Judeo-Christian
Theocracy,” Joachim Fiore’s “Age of the Spirit,” Masonic “New World
Order,” etc..

Whatever the occult societies have labeled their coming
Luciferian Slave State, New Agers Jeremy Rifkin and
Alice Bailey have accurately foretold that the Christian Church would be
hijacked and will be the primary instrument to usher in the “New Age,”—
which the Bible calls the Great Tribulation.

Jerom
Bolsec, Histoire de la vie, moeurs, actes, doctrine, constance et mort
de Jean Calvin,
(Lyons and Paris, 1577; published in Latin at Cologne in 1580; German tr.
1581. (Trans. History of the life, morals, acts, doctrine,
constancy and death of John Calvin)

Jerom Bolsec, Histoire de
la vie et des mœurs de Th. de Bèze
(Paris, 1582). (Trans. History of the life and the morals of Theodore
Beza)